Hi
I have had claims forms for a debt sent to me by Northampton

Customer Question

HiI have had claims forms for a debt sent to me by Northampton Court, but I have been in hospital with Pneumonia and have not been able to respond in time. I have just received a letter stating that the claim has been passed on to Kings Lynn for enforcement. What should I do?

Hello, I am Law Denning and I am a practising solicitor in a High Street practice. I have been an expert on this website in UK law since 2008. During that time, as you appreciate, I have answered thousands of questions from satisfied users on a variety of subjects. Because we are all in practice with clients and court and other users, I might not always respond in minutes. Please bear with me in that case

It is my pleasure to try and assist you with this today. Please bear with me while I gather some further information from you in order for me to be able to advise you fully.

Unless I have all the facts that I need, my answer would not be accurate.

The amount is for 7000 pounds on a Nationwide credit card. I was making regular payments for 6 years before I had to reduce my working hours when my daughter was diagnosed with Autism. I wrote to Nationwide offering them a monthly sum of one pound (which was advised to me by CCCS), however they must have passed the debt on for collection.

The problem is that I was admitted to hospital with Pneumonia in February and was then recovering at my mother's house. I had stopped my mobile phone as I could not afford it so I was not contactable.

When I returned to my own home I suffered a serious nervous breakdown (my GP has records of all of this) and was put onto anti depressants. Obviously my partner was worried about my mental and physical health and did not pass my post onto me.

I have just been able to start working again and dealing with other issues. I opened a letter this morning stating that the claim made by Nationwide had been transferred from Northampton to Kings Lynn for enforcement.

I do not know what this means, but I was not at my house when the original forms were sent, and now I am concerned as to what I should do?

I am not the least bit surprised thatthey did not accept 1 pound per month because it meant that the debt would notbe paid off in your lifetime.

I'm afraid that your partner has doneyou a disservice by withholding your post.

This is now going to be quitedifficult to deal with because of the timescale involved and the delay.

You need to make an application tocourt to set aside the judgement which it appears that nationwide have againstyou. You can only apply to set aside the judgement if you have a reasonableprospect of defending the case or there is some other compelling reason.Unfortunately, you don't seem to have a defence because the fact remains thatyou do oh £7000.

There is another issue with settingthe judgement aside and that is the delay between when the judgement wasreceived (which I do not know from the facts you have given me) and now. You will have to give a reason for thedelay and along with your application to court to set the judgement aside, youwill have to provide some proof that you are in hospital and were no longerliving at your own home.

Your partner will also be required togive a statement as to why he/she did not pass correspondence on to you. Ithink the mobile phone being cut-off is immaterial because everybody knew whereyou were.

If you do manage to get the judgementset aside, it just means that the nationwide cannot enforce the judgement butthey can take you back to court to try and get the judgement put back in place.

If you do not get the judgement setaside or you don't deal with it, it can be enforced by taking money straightfrom your bank account, sending bailiffs round to take goods, putting a chargeagainst your house, getting your employer to pay money direct from wages (ifyou are employed) or ultimately, you could be made bankrupt.

This is not something that you mustsit on and you must make an application as soon as you can to set aside thejudgement.

I am online andoff-line each day and most weekends so please bear with me if I do not comeback to you within nanoseconds.

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